Mystery Process eating CPU

[basslover1]

My main desktop was down for a bit, because I didn't have a monitor, so I had been using my laptop.

Anyway, I got a new monitor and updated Windows XP, cause it hadn't been used in probably a good month or so.

Anyway onto the issue. In task manager on a fresh restart it's showing that some process is using the CPU and it's constantly at 60% or higher. Normally I would know how to fix this, but here's the kicker, when I click on the Processes tab, it's showing that the System Idle Process is at 90 or higher, meaning it's showing that the processor is at idle, yet the Performance tab shows it to be 60% in use or more.

What the hell's going on here? I can definitely tell something is using the CPU because system performance has been severely degraded, but I don't know what is causing the problem.

What steps do I need to take to see what's causing this?

Thank you.

 

[lxskllr]

I would run a virus/spyware scan, and run hijackthis to see if anything turns up. You could also try Rootkitrevealer and see if that finds anything.

 

[basslover1]

I ran Spybot and Adaware yesterday, and neither turned up anything. I also did Hijackthis today, and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I've yet to run a virus scan but I'll try that next. I'll give that link a try as well.

Other options are still welcomed, but I'll update this thread with results of what Lxskllr posted, and the virus scan.

 

[VinDSL]

Try PROCESS EXPLORER

If that doesn't tell you what's going on, nothing will!

HERE'S A SNAPPY FOR YOU

 

[Aberforth]

Usually this is a sign of a spyware, if it isn't then it must be incompatible programs or services running in the background. Try eliminating programs like 3rd party firewalls, printer drivers or other recent programs that you have installed.

Also check using this program as it shows addtional information about processes.

Update:
Shell extentions are attched to explorer so they are not listed in task manager, if these are incompatible it might result in high CPU usage. Try disabling shell extentions using ShellExview from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html

 

[basslover1]

Ok, so I did a deep system virus scan with Avast!, and it found nothing wrong.

I opened up Process Explorer from the link above, and it found two things that are hogging my CPU at any given time. Something called DPCs and another called Interrupts. Anyone have any more information on what to do with these? At any given time they're using 50-80% of my CPU and it makes even the simplest things difficult, like navigating to this page, hell even typing out this message is a pain, because it hangs every 10-15 seconds or so.

 

[basslover1]

Update:

I did some research on google about DPCs and Interrupts, and noticed a lot of other people with these problems narrowing it down to a hardware issue. I recently moved my room around, and now that my PC is on the other side of the room and out of reach of my router (used to be wired) I used a wireless PCI card that was in my mother's PC that she no longer uses. I had some issues getting the drivers for this card to work originally, but now it's working. However, when I disable the card, my CPU usage drops to normal levels, and once I enable it again, the CPU goes back up.

So now that I've narrowed it down to my wireless PCI card, how do I go about resolving this issue?

 

[MrChad]

Make sure you're using the most up-to-date drivers for the card. If all else fails, replace the card with a different make/model.

 

[nerp]

Get a longer ethernet cable or get a cheap 4 port switch to act as an extender. Wired is always better than wireless.

 

[BoboKatt]

One thing you might consider/try using wireless is to see what is actually controlling your connection. Is it a utility that came with your wireless card (like Dlink) or is it Window's own Zero Configuration Service. You should only have ONE running not both.

You can test to see which ones works better... it might be the utility from your wireless nic is crap... and causing some issues. Make sure it's not starting up by default and then configure window's own zero config to make the connection. Try this.

Also in the actual properties of your wireless card (hardware) make sure you have it set up properly. some cards allow you to set various settings within that which might help.

Here is a nice read: http://www.smallbusinesscomput...er/article.php/3577111

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: nerp
Get a longer ethernet cable or get a cheap 4 port switch to act as an extender. Wired is always better than wireless.

While that's a workaround that doesn't really fix the problem.

Make sure the drivers are the correct ones and update all your system board drivers.

If possible I would also try a different pci slot for the wireless card, or even just re-arranging the cards so they share different IRQ's.

 

[basslover1]

Ok, I think I found the problem. When I did the Windows update, it also had updated drivers for the card, turns out Windows is retarded, and installed the wrong drivers for the card. Windows installed drivers for a PCMCIA card, and it most definitely is not.

I'm going to switch the drivers and see what happens.

 

[basslover1]

Problem fixed. I found the driver CD that came with the card, uninstalled the old drivers, restarted and installed the new drivers. CPU usage is back down to zero.

Thanks everyone

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: basslover1
Ok, I think I found the problem. When I did the Windows update, it also had updated drivers for the card, turns out Windows is retarded, and installed the wrong drivers for the card.

Heh!

I (sort of) had the same problem with WU - it thought my lappy's ALPS touch pad was a Synaptics touch pad - still does.

It caused Vista to take about 5 minutes to boot up...

I finally had to 'hide' this update from WU, so it doesn't jack up my machine!